


Risking it All

by Fluffy_Little_Bunny



Category: Fire Emblem Echoes: Mou Hitori no Eiyuu Ou | Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
Genre: Can't decide if I like him better with his mask on or off, Conrad is soooooo soft, F/M, Will contain official dialogue, follows canon storyline, please don't comment how I ripped it off, protective older brother
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-18
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2019-03-20 21:09:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13726017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fluffy_Little_Bunny/pseuds/Fluffy_Little_Bunny
Summary: Scarlet, a name made for her infamous actions, has been given her most delicate mission. Her mission; infiltrate Princess Anthiese's group and stop Anthiese at all costs from disturbing the emperor's plans. One wrong move could ruin everything. Everything is going fine, but Conrad suspects something is up. Will Scarlet fail her mission, or will she succeed?





	1. Part One

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“There are rumors that the Zofian princess Anthiese is alive and heading to the temple of Mila. We want you to spy on her and gather information. If necessary, kill her. First, you must confirm her existence. Do that by gaining her trust. Secondly, I want you to make sure she never gets far enough to ruin the plans of our emperor. I that trust you, the most skilled spy and assassin in our land will be able to pull this off.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

I open my eyes back up, running what the generals told me. I was about to head off on my most delicate mission; one wrong move could end it all, including my life. Usually, I took on assassinations, and even less, spy work. If I was gathering intel, I rarely had to infiltrate for as long as I have to now. This mission wasn’t as dangerous as my other jobs, but it had the biggest weight. These weren’t any normal enemy, considering the rumors are correct, I am dealing with a royal. Nothing good comes from messing with royals.

  
To get myself in the right mindset, I run my fingers on all the weapons. I get a feel for the weapons, even though I’ve used them all since I was born. The alibi I was given was a mercenary sniper that has been injured. If asked about my past, I am from a little village trying to make money for my mother. From what I heard, the “princess” is quite caring, so I should be able to join her party if I give a valid enough reason.

  
I grab a sturdy bow off my wall. It’s not the best I have, but the best one I have looks a little rich for a small village girl. I grab a dozen of arrows, my arrow making kit, and some of my trusty knives before heading to choose my clothes. Opening my huge closet, I pick out an outfit and a few more articles of clothing to bring. Looking in the mirror, I comb my rich auburn hair into a tight ponytail. Next, I head to the kitchen to grab some bread and cheese. I finish up my packing with some gold and silver coins. Slugging my bag over my right shoulder, and with my bow in my left hand, I head out of my house to get beat up by bandits.  
After running for a little over an hour, I cross the border. My house is in the middle of nowhere, and halfway between the castle and Zofian border. The “princess” is rumored to be traveling to the Zofian palace, so I’ll try an intercept her before that.

  
Traveling more inland of Zofia, I ask around to see if anyone has heard of a girl that matches Anthiese’s description. Luckily, word of her helpful nature has spread, and a girl tells me that she has sworn to stop the pirate Barth. I press for more details about this Barth and find his base is situated on an island a ways away from this island. The girl tells me to also stay away because he is a dangerous man that would gladly capture me to make me his.

  
I hate people like him, thinking as if people are objects I think as I bite my nail. Trying to hide the growing scowl, I wave goodbye with a forced cheerful “thank you” and head off. _This Barth might be my key to sneaking into Anthiese’s group. If she is heading for him, and I somehow manage to encounter them there, I could somehow warp the situation to make myself look like a victim. The problem is finding Barth and getting him wrapped around my finger. Now, I somehow need to get to this island before Anthiese’s group gets there._

  
Looking around, I see an old fisherman tying up his boat. Walking over, I put on my most friendly face and ask, “Excuse me, sir? I have no boat to get to the closest shrine, the Seabound shrine, and I was wondering if I could borrow yours? I have heard tales of a necrodragon there and I would like to go slay it so the shrine becomes open again. My father is also stuck on that island, and I swore to my mother that I would save him.”

  
_This sounds so stupid, he’ll never buy it. This is honestly the lamest excuse I’ve ever used._ Surprisingly, he buys it and gives me consent to use his boat. My inner self starts cheering, but all I do is bow politely and thank him.

  
“You young ones now are so reckless, it reminds me of my younger self. I am almost too old to go fishing now, so that boat has little value. I just ride around the waves nowadays,” He says, “Good luck in getting your father back.”

  
I flash him a reassuring smile and let the sails on his boat loose, allowing the boat to catch the winds and move. Soon, I am off in the right direction of Barth’s island.

  
A few very long hours later, I am able to set foot on Barth’s island. I can see a towering castle in the distance, so I head that way. Trekking up the hillside, I run the plan through my head. _Act like a stray girl that accidentally wandered onto the island. Throw him innocent looks and hope he falls for it. If it fails, he will still probably capture me, so I can act like a victim either way. When Anthiese gets here, convince my way into her group. Shouldn’t be so hard since she seems like an overly kind person._

  
Bracing myself for the disgustingness of this part of the mission, I timidly start walking into the open. I sling my bow off my back and grip the handle riser section nervously. I give out a weak call, “Is- Is anyone here?”

  
Seeing nothing happen, I give out a slightly louder call, and this time it works. A few men stream out of the palace doors and starting eyeing me.  
“Who is this fine little thing?”

  
“Hey, look at her! She looks like she needs some help.”

  
“Hey, Boss! You should come here. A present just walked onto the island.”

  
I feel bile rising in my throat and resist the urge to put an arrow through all their throats. Since a young age, I’ve been trained into almost every weapon available. Shooting them would be nothing more than target practice.

  
At the pirate's calls, a large man, whom I’m guessing is Barth, walks out. He is a big fellow, but he looks like his brain isn’t much larger than a pea. He lets out a huge bellow.

 

“You’re right men! A fine little thing did wander onto this island! Hey you! Little girl, what are you doing here!”

  
I smile and respond, “My boat and I accidentally got lead off course and ended up here. I wouldn’t suppose you fine gentlemen could help me get back on track?”

  
Smirking, Barth whips out his ax and threatens, “I don’t think so. You’re going nowhere. Now come here because otherwise, I’ll chop your head off.”

  
Standing my ground, I defiantly stare at him. He scowls back and barks at him men, “Find her boat and destroy it! We’ll have some fun when we get back.”

  
Just then, two groups emerge from the trees. A girl cries out, “Keep your hands off of her!”

  
Both of us turn our heads and I smile. My target is standing right there, the supposed Princess Anthiese in the flesh.

  
Next, to me, Barth loudly calls out, “By the mighty parrot of Shanty Pete! What be that racket? Yar har ho! Looks like more little mice be squeakin’ into me keep!”  
Anthiese calls out, “Are you the one they call Barth? I order you to halt your piracy and leave these waters at once!”

  
_Seriously? When did coming in and ordering someone to stop doing something ever work?_

  
To no surprise, Barth laughs at her naivety, “Gar har har! I’ll do no such thing, ye shrill woman! No one enters the lair of the Pirate King and starts squawkin’ orders but me!”

  
A man, who I recognize as the famous mercenary, enters and speaks to Anthiese, “You see, lass? What’d I tell you about trying to reason with sea dogs?”

  
Barth turns yells at Saber before barking an order to his men, “Yar, bold words from a fool man. Well, I’ll put yer steel to the test! Have at ’em, boys! Take the man’s guts for garters, but leave the wench alive. I’ll not have a single scratch on her… Ruins the sale price, it do! Yar har ho!”

  
In an I-told-you-so voice, Saber argues, “See what I mean?”

  
Anthiese rolls her eyes, clearly a continuance of a previous conversation, before declaring, “Redemption is a lost cause for a man like you, Barth. Your reign as pirate king ends here!”

  
Out of the corner of my eye, I see an arrow flying toward Barth from the second group that entered.

  
Dodging it, the arrow narrowly misses Barth’s arm. The man who shot it is a good looking man who’s ensemble is purple. I scramble over to them, hoping they will not shoot me and help me. A big man steps in front of me and asks, “Hmm…? Who are you?”

  
The archer steps forward and answers, “Well, I’ll be. Looks like we aren’t the only ones here? What is a pretty girl like you doing?”

  
“My boat accidentally drifted off course and I ended up here. I am a wandering sniper and wonder if I might be of some assistance as of right now? I really just want to put an arrow in that pirate.”

  
The archer opens his mouth to say something, but the big man says something instead.

  
“Heh. Must be our lucky day. You and that other group should make Barth that much easier to defeat.”

  
A third man steps forward to comment, “You know why I like you, Valbar? Because you’re such an optimist. From where I’m standing, our odds look somewhere between grim and dire.”

  
The archer dramatically responds, “What, you mean because we’re horribly outnumbered?”

  
Valbar silences both of them with a quick shout, “You two better stop gabbing like hens and start fighting like you want to live. Now, if we can take Barth out of the picture, his goons should scatter… So you know what to do, right, boys? Ignore the runts and take aim for Barth!”

  
All of them dash forward, and I just follow suit. While shooting arrows into the enemy, I watch Anthiese’s group fight. They are all quite good. In terms of fighting ability, Saber and Anthiese are the best, closely followed by a female mage. The other two, a young male mage and cleric were okay, but they would be easy pickings if I fought them. After feeling the wind of a blade next to me, I stop watching the group and get back to killing.

  
Between the two group’s effort, we manage to finish Barth’s men off quickly. All of us turn our attention to the last man standing, Barth. He starts to run to hide among supplies, and we all charge after him. Valbar smashes through crates as the archer and I rain arrows down on him. Anthiese’s group is a little ways behind us and isn’t able to do much damage. There is an occasional magical bolt, but they often miss and it’s up to us. Even though Valbar’s group and I all want to kill him, only one of us gets the opportunity to, and that was the swordsman. He lunges forward, ducking under a swing of Barth’s ax, and slices Barth’s stomach open. Blood squirts out of the wound, and I hear Barth scream. His movements slow, Barth starts weakly swinging his ax around. Having a stroke of luck, one of Barth’s swings is aimed straight at the swordsman, but his ax is quickly deflected. Falling back and clutching his stomach, he sputters out, “I was supposed to be… the king o’ the seas….” before his throat is promptly cut and he falls down dead.

  
Then the men who Barth sent to destroy my boat, emerge out of the trees exclaiming, “Barth, we did it! We destroyed the girl’s boat!” They say no further as I shoot arrows into all of their throats.

  
As he wipes the blood off his blade, everyone else runs up to the swordsman. Valbar runs up and pats (smacks) him on the back. As he starts to speak, he tears up, “Thank you Kamui. My family has finally been avenged.”

  
Smiling back, Kamui replies, “No problem. Now I’m really curious about who these other people are,” as he points at Anthiese’s group, with is still running toward us.

  
Turning to face them, while trying to put a smile on his face and energy into his voice, Valbar calls out, “Oh ho! Thank you for helping!”

  
When Anthiese’s group finally comes to a halt in front of us, Valbar starts introducing himself, “I’m Valbar, by the way. And since that dastard Barth is dead, my family can finally rest… *sniffle* …Er, right. Sorry. Got a little emotional there for a second. So hey, is there anything I can do to thank you? I’ll be honest—I’m not good at much besides crackin’ skulls. But if you NEED skulls cracked, I’m your man! What do you say?”

  
Surprised at Valbar’s offer to join her group, Anthiese stammers out a “sure.”

  
Next, Valbar’s two other friends speak up.

  
“You’re going off with them, old friend? Well, they’d better make room, because I go where you go! By the way, my name is Leon. No complaints about that, right? Everybody on the same page? …Great,” says Leon.

  
“You joining up with this lot, Valbar? Interesting… Well, it’s your call—I don’t have a preference either way,” says Kamui with a laid-back tone.

  
I am just as shocked as Anthiese as the three willing volunteer to join her. _Why would you join a group like that right after meeting them? And for that reason?_ I really shouldn’t talk, but I’ve never seen someone do something like that.

  
Another person who is surprised is Valbar. He turns to the two with a surprised look on his faces and asks, “Wait, you two are comin’?”

  
Smirking Leon states, “Well, obviously. I go where you go—that’s the deal. And I don’t care who doesn’t like it.”

  
Next to him, Kamui responds, “And I just go wherever the money flows like wine!”

  
Valbar starts laughing before remarking, “You jokers are a couple of real class acts. You ever stop to think that maybe you’re being rude to the priestess?! She’s on a holy mission to… Er, a mission of… It’s important, okay?!”

  
Stepping forward, Anthiese reassures Valbar and his group by saying, “It’s all right, Valbar—they’re welcome to come along if they like. It’s an honor and a pleasure to have such capable company. They’ve both proven their skill, and can be rather amusing to boot. So I thank you one and all for brightening our journey.”

  
Bashfully, Valbar says, “Aw shucks, milady… We should be the ones thanking **you**!”

 

Interjecting, Leon sarcastically protests, “My my, that was some praise… I thought I’d give at least 50 percent… but now you get all of it!”

  
Kamui says, “You know me. I’ll give you as much as you pay me for,” which causes Valbar to yell, “Did you jokers hear  **anything** I just said?”

  
Anthiese laughs and address them, "Look, you can can me Celica instead of milady," before finally turning to me.

  
“Are you okay? I’m sorry you had to deal with Barth acting like that. Anyway, what brings you to this island? You clearly weren’t with these gentlemen over here.”

  
_This is my chance_. "Well… My boat had drifted off track and I ended up here. Seeing as I have no boat or anything, and I fear anything like that happening again, would it be possible to join you? My name is Scarlet by the way.”

  
At her response of “yes”, I smile. _Part one of my plan complete._


	2. Journey Across the Sea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sitting here writing this chapter and thinking, "Time for some quick thinking to explain how they manage to carry an entire castle worth of weapons and food...."
> 
> After I write the chapter: HAhAHAha what bs I made up.
> 
> P.S I just had to break the fourth wall and go OOC on Celica for a second

After our friendly banter outside of the castle, we all go inside to explore the rest of the castle. As soon as we walk in, we are greeted by the reeking smell of dead fish. I gasp at the beaten up shark hanging from the ceiling. I might be a cold-hearted killer, but I love animals like crazy. Sharks are such rare and beautiful creatures and their meat isn’t even that good. I feel a frown of sadness grow, but I quickly get rid of it. The others start exploring the leftover supplies from the pirates. I follow along and dash straight over to the spear rack I see.

  
I run my fingers over them. Dunno why I do this, but it’s habit for me to run my fingers over weapons. It gives me a feeling of the weapons and their soul. I believe every weapon has a spirit and inner personality that makes it unique. From the most poorly crafted blade to the best, every weapon has a voice. When I run my fingers over a weapon, I get a sense for it; the best way to use it, how it likes to be used and every little detail about it. Most of the spears here are standard steel spears you can buy in the marketplace; decent quality but aren’t extremely reliable. These spears might seem workable to the average eye, but the metal isn’t steel. I touch one spear and I can feel that it is a good quality spear made of actual steel. Removing it from the rack, I walk over to Celica and offer it to her.

  
“Excuse me Celica? I found a good quality spear over there, is there any way we can use it?” I ask while handing her the spear.

  
Celica examines it and opens up some scary looking black portal. I step back a little nervous. _That thing looks like a black hole (though I have no clue what that is)_. Magic things are a little nerve-wracking because of their huge potential. I can do magic, but I am not a boss at it. Celica chucks the spear in there and the scary black thing closes just like a black hole _(I still have no clue what that is)._

  
“What the heck is that?” I question trying to keep the edge out of my voice.

  
“That’s just my magical bag. You think it’s actually sensible that we carry all this stuff in a bag like the game says? Heck no. Well since the game makes nonsense up, I can as well. So that’s my ‘bag’.” She replies with the most straight look on her face.

  
_WTF?! This is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen! I did not sign up for this. No magical black portal should just be able to swallow things up like that! I thought I was following a normal girl around, not some space bending priestess._

  
I didn’t realize I had been standing with a shocked look on my face until Leon snapped his fingers in front of my face. “Excuse me? You okay there because you’ve been staring off into the distance looking like a wide-eyed deer for the past few minutes.”

  
I turn and nod at him. He raises an eyebrow before pivoting on his foot and strolling over to Valbar. Thankfully the others were too busy searching the huge hall to notice my state. The tall burly man that Celica calls Saber calls out to everyone, “Let’s move on!”

  
There is nothing else of importance in the castle except for the treasure vault. Inside, the massive amount of gold starts faintly glowing as the sun sets outside. Among the treasure are three men. Celica goes to talk with them while we stand and converse. We all came to the consensus to not touch the treasure because it was not ours to start with. Personally, I am already rich from all my jobs, so I didn’t plan on accidentally pocketing any gold. I’ve been believed to be poor because I live in the middle of the forest, but I have just as much gold as in this room.

  
Everyone talks and I realize I don’t know everyone in this group. The two mages and saint were the only ones I didn’t know, but it’s important to know everyone affiliated with your mission. I cut into the conversation everyone is having and ask the three, “Hey, sorry I didn’t catch your names, mind telling me them?”

  
The girl with pink pigtails introduces her and the boy, “My name is Mae,” she points to the boy, “And this here is Boey. Both of us are childhood friends of Celica.”

  
Throwing away her pointing finger, Boey throws back at her, “I can introduce myself perfectly fine, thank you.”

  
“Well, I still did it. You were too slow to say anything anyway, so you’re loss,” Mae sarcastically responds back.

  
“Even so, you aren’t my mother, so at least let me introduce myself!” Boey argues.

  
Sticking her tongue out, Mae says, “Fine. Maybe you can go from being a big baby to acting like a young adult like me.”

  
“Hey! I’m not a big baby! And if I am, at least I’m not as immature as you!” retorts Boey back.

  
Not being able to handle the massive amount of childness radiating from the two, I step between them.

  
“Seriously? Both of you are young adults and **both** of you are fighting like immature children,” I scold.

  
Saber puts his hand on my shoulder and tells me, “Trust me, lass, this happens all the time. Leave them be. Usually, Celica stops them, but you just gotta let it happen sometimes.”

  
Shrugging him off my shoulder I roll my eyes and reply back, “Well Celica is over there talking, so I stepped in.”

  
He chuckles and says, “Well looks like Celica is coming over here now, so you didn’t have to step in.”

  
I shrug him off and listen as Celica addresses us, “So I found out that there is an island with a temple of Mila on it that is guarded by a necrodragon. I say we go and slay it, especially since there is rumored treasure there that can possibly help-”

  
Kamui cuts her off right as she is about to finish, “Oh, but let me ask you one question: Do you have Seraphim magic? If not, then you’d best stay clear of the Seabound Shrine. Necrodragons are the one thing I absolutely refuse to tangle with.”

  
“Ah, one of the men did mention Seraphim magic. I read about, and it’s within my repertoire. I should be able to use it,” Celica tells him.

  
“Should?!” Kamui exclaims while looking skeptical.

 

Then the tiny saint that I didn’t catch the name of since Mae and Boey started arguing speaks up, “Um, I can use it if it’s any reassurance.”

  
Celica says surprised, “That’s amazing Genny!” and then turns to Kamui and asks, “So is it okay now?”

  
He just grumbles and I guess Celica took that as a yes. Soon after, we are loading up their sizable boat and set off across the sea. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be on a short one or two week hiatus since AP testing and my 15th birthday is coming up. In this time, I will come back and make slight edits and changes to posted chapters to improve them, but I will not be posting any new chapters.

**Author's Note:**

> Official artwork will be posted on my Instagram @trashy_artist.393


End file.
